I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to skiing equipment, and more particularly to a combination of a ski glove and ski pole whereby the skier can rapidly either couple or uncouple his ski glove from the ski poles.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
In certain skiing competitions, it is imperative that the skier be able to rapidly release and reattach his hands to the ski poles. Specifically, in Olympic biathlon competition, the skier traverses a cross country path and periodically must stop, take a rifle from the shoulder, fire at targets and then move on to a next station. In such competition, seconds are important.
Conventional ski poles generally comprise an elongated pole having a ground-engaging tip at one end, a basket-like extension a short predetermined distance above the ground-engaging tip and a hand grip at the opposite end. Associated with the hand grip are loop-type straps through which the skier inserts his hand so that the strap effectively wraps around the wrist as the skier grasps the hand grip and poles his way along the path of travel. With such conventional ski poles, valuable time may be lost when it becomes necessary to remove the wrist straps from the skier's wrists so that he may, in turn, grasp his rifle and begin firing. Similarly, when the shooting phase at a particular station has been completed, the skier must again manipulate his hand and wrist through the straps of the ski pole before taking off down the trail. It is also found that conventional wrist straps tend to concentrate the poling forces at two ma]or points on the hand causing discomfort and sometimes injury. Moreover, the strap also frequently crawls up the hand and it must be repositioned around the wrist. This causes the skier to momentarily interrupt his skiing technique and, thereby, decrease skiing velocity.